Sting in Northampton as Last Ship prepares to sail into Royal & Derngate
A musical
featuring songs by Sting is due to come to Northampton.
The Last Ship will play at the Royal & Derngate from April 24 to 28, and The Police singer attended the launch at the Errol Flynn Filmhouse today.
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He said the show is "about the town I was raised in" and was inspired by his 1991 album The Soul Cages.
It tells the story of a community during the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear.
Sting said: "I was born within spitting distance of a shipyard where they built the biggest ships in the world.
"The whole town was very proud of that fact and the shipyard closed down so the town was mortally wounded in a way."
Norfolk Day celebrates everything about county
A special day celebrating the county of Norfolk is to be held at the height of summer.
The event, on 27 July, will be an opportunity to celebrate the county known for its royal connections, Broads, 90 miles (145km) of coastline and medieval buildings.
Appeal for £2.5m new Ipswich Hospital children's department
Ipswich Hospital has started an appeal to help fund a £2.5m new-look children's department.
The plans include remodelling and refurbishing the department in phases over the next two to three years.
The number of beds on ward will increase from 24 to 26, with more en suite rooms and side rooms available, while clinic rooms will increase from six to 14 and more play areas will be added.
Sarah Smith, children’s matron at the hospital, said: "We are delighted to launch our children’s appeal, which aims to create a modern, welcoming environment which matches the high standards of care which our patients receive.
"We’d encourage anyone who is thinking about holding a cake sale, arranging a sponsored walk or challenging themselves by running a marathon to consider supporting our children’s appeal and helping our dream become a reality.”
East Anglian derby: Programme seller shows off collection
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A football programme seller with thousands of Norwich City and Ipswich Town match day magazines says he enjoys the "banter" of fans at the East Anglian derby.
David Woolston buys and sells the programmes at both Carrow Road and Portman Road throughout the season, despite supporting neither club.
"It's just a hobby that I turned into a business," he told BBC Look East. "The oldest programme I have from a match between Norwich and Ipswich is a Division Three South game in the 1955-56 season.
"Collectors [like me] are thin on the ground, but people who are committed will collect anything. Whether it's cigarette cards or, in more recent times, Panini sticker albums."
The latest edition of the East Anglian derby takes place on Sunday, with Norwich hosting Ipswich in the Championship at 12:00; commentary will be available via BBC Radio Norfolk and BBC Radio Suffolk, but only on FM radio. There will be live text commentary which you can access on the BBC Sport's match preview.
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Suffolk Coastal bin collections reviewed for safety
Waste collections are being reviewed in the Suffolk Coastal district because of concerns over the safety of crews operating bin lorries.
People in five properties in Woodbridge have been told their street is too narrow for lorries to safely reverse down, so they'll now have to take bins to a "communal collection point".
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Suffolk Coastal Norse, which empties the bins, said changes are unavoidable where roads have become overgrown, narrower or more potholed.
About 40 properties in 19 areas are currently being assessed to check they're safe for bin lorries to access.
Three Samauri swords have been handed into Bedfordshire Police.
They were discovered when a weapons amnesty bin was emptied.
The bins have been set up across the county, as part of Operation Sceptre, a week-long operation dedicated to a clampdown on knife crime.
Sgt Ben DimmockCopyright: Sgt Ben Dimmock
A gun was also recovered.
Sgt Ben DimmockCopyright: Sgt Ben Dimmock
Paula Radcliffe: The damage to my body
Colin Murray
BBC Radio 5 live
I've travelled to the south of France to visit the home of the three-time winner of the women's London Marathon, women’s marathon world record holder and former BBC Sports Personality of the Year - Bedford's very own Paula Radcliffe.
She revealed to me she tore her colon during her
world-record breaking marathon run in 2002.
She
also discusses the long term damage that running has caused to her body, and
her very high pain threshold.
A man has been charged with rape after a woman was attacked on Bedford's Embankment on 2 February.
He was arrested earlier in the week.
GoogleCopyright: Google
Wheelie bins being considered for homes in Tendring
Homes in the Tendring district could be given free wheelie bins to replace the black sacks currently used for rubbish collection.
The change is being considered as part of a new waste contract and could be introduced from summer 2019.
Tendring District CouncilCopyright: Tendring District Council
Tendring District Council said the current bags are prone to splitting and can be ripped apart by animals, causing litter and the need for extra street cleaning.
Recycling arrangements, assisted collections and the weekly food waste collection would remain unchanged and a four-week public consultation has begun to garner people's views.
Government funding to 'unlock land' for housing
Andy Holmes
BBC Three Counties Radio political reporter
Three local councils are due to benefit from government funding to help them build homes on land that's previously been unusable.
Wycombe District Council has been allocated £500,000 to turn contaminated land at Bassetsbury allotments into housing.
Campaigners near the site have previously had pleas to turn it into a visitors centre and heritage site rejected.
Elsewhere, Luton's Taylor Street will receive £855,000 and land in Stevenage around Kenilworth Close, Burwell Road and Gresley Way will get £900,000.
Shefford Town & Campton FC 'devastated' by vandalism
Alex Pope
BBC Local Live
A football clubhouse, which was renovated and refurbished by volunteers three years ago, has been vandalised.
Sean Moore from the club said: "All the light fittings are broken, graffiti drawn on the walls and the showers pulled off the walls.
"For someone to go in and vandalise it as they have is shocking.
"Everyone is devastated. It's going to cost a lot of time, effort and money to put right."
Shefford Town Campton FCCopyright: Shefford Town Campton FC
He says they have volunteers going to the clubhouse tomorrow to assess the damage, but if it can't be fixed quickly they might have to postpone future games.
Police have been informed, he says.
Conservative councillor wins Clacton St Paul's by-election
Susan Honeywood (Conservative) has been elected to represent the Tendring District Council ward of St Paul's in Clacton, following yesterday's by-election.
The turnout for the vote was 25.5%, with Mrs Honeywood polling 378 votes to succeed Jack Parsons (independent), who resigned from the Conservative-run authority in December.
Prior to his resignation, Parsons was fined and given a 12 month community order after he was convicted of carrying a knife in a public place last year.
Second and third places in the election were taken by independent candidates, while Labour was fourth.
One of Mr Smithers' first decisions will be whether to back his under fire leader Heather Smith - a statement signed by 21 of his new backbench colleagues recently called for the council to be run by government commissioners.
Mr Smithers polled 1,414 of the 2,503 votes cast, with Labour's Gary Day finishing second with 557 votes. The turnout was 26.04%.
The seat was left vacant following the death of Glenn Harwood in November.
'Neigh-bourhood' cops round up stray horses
Police officers had to use their cars to create a road block to protect other motorists after four horses were spotted running loose.
"Neigh-bourhood" officers from Essex Police's community team put their horse-herding skills to the test on Lower Road in Hullbridge, near Rayleigh, on Sunday night.
Essex PoliceCopyright: Essex Police
"The horse was not blue", officers who photographed one of the animals, wroteImage caption: "The horse was not blue", officers who photographed one of the animals, wrote
Concerned for both the safety of the animals and motorists, they blocked off the road for about an hour, and secured the animals with help from members of the public
"Not every incident we attend is a crime but an incident like this can potentially cause serious harm to the public," PC Steve Joynes said.
"We’re glad we resolved it without any injury and the horses were put back in their field safely."
Family land included in Central Beds 'call for sites'
Dunstable Gazette
A farmer was shocked to find his fields have been included as possible development land in Central Bedfordshire Council’s Local Plan.
Rising car use and cuts to public funding are being blamed for a loss of 134 million journey miles over the past decade alone.
In England, the scale of the bus network has fallen to levels last seen in 1991, even though passenger numbers are now 8% higher than they were then.
The figures show big regional variations, with Central Bedfordshire the second worst area for the number of bus journey miles lost over four years, although neighbouring Bedford, Luton, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire have gained miles.
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The government has encouraged councils and bus companies to work together to halt the decline.
Friday fluff: Cop dogs salute their Chinese year
To celebrate the Chinese New Year, police have put together a parade of pooches.
Friday marks the start of the Year of the Dog, so what better excuse to look at pictures of "man's best friend"?
There are more than 40 dogs in the joint police unit covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
They're a skilled lot, doing everything from tracking suspects to sniffing out drugs and cash.
Luton Borough Council has projected it will have overspent £8.23m on its budget by the end of this financial year.
Norfolk health services set for change
The way people in Norfolk are looked after by the NHS is due to change under a new care plan.
Health trusts, hospitals and councils have created the Norfolk & Waveney Sustainability & Transformation Plan in response to an aging population and smaller budgets.
Some of the changes recommended include treating people in their own homes and using digital technlogy to manage health conditions remotely.
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
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Sgt Ben DimmockCopyright: Sgt Ben Dimmock 
Sgt Ben DimmockCopyright: Sgt Ben Dimmock 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
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Tendring District CouncilCopyright: Tendring District Council 
Shefford Town Campton FCCopyright: Shefford Town Campton FC 
@nccdemocracyCopyright: @nccdemocracy 
Essex PoliceCopyright: Essex Police "The horse was not blue", officers who photographed one of the animals, wroteImage caption: "The horse was not blue", officers who photographed one of the animals, wrote 
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Latest PostSting in Northampton as Last Ship prepares to sail into Royal & Derngate
A musical featuring songs by Sting is due to come to Northampton.
The Last Ship will play at the Royal & Derngate from April 24 to 28, and The Police singer attended the launch at the Errol Flynn Filmhouse today.
He said the show is "about the town I was raised in" and was inspired by his 1991 album The Soul Cages.
It tells the story of a community during the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear.
Sting said: "I was born within spitting distance of a shipyard where they built the biggest ships in the world.
"The whole town was very proud of that fact and the shipyard closed down so the town was mortally wounded in a way."
Norfolk Day celebrates everything about county
A special day celebrating the county of Norfolk is to be held at the height of summer.
The event, on 27 July, will be an opportunity to celebrate the county known for its royal connections, Broads, 90 miles (145km) of coastline and medieval buildings.
Norfolk Day follows in the footsteps of its neighbouring county's Suffolk Day, which was held for the first time last year.
BBC Radio Norfolk has teamed up with the Eastern Daily Press for the event.
Appeal for £2.5m new Ipswich Hospital children's department
Ipswich Hospital has started an appeal to help fund a £2.5m new-look children's department.
The plans include remodelling and refurbishing the department in phases over the next two to three years.
The number of beds on ward will increase from 24 to 26, with more en suite rooms and side rooms available, while clinic rooms will increase from six to 14 and more play areas will be added.
Sarah Smith, children’s matron at the hospital, said: "We are delighted to launch our children’s appeal, which aims to create a modern, welcoming environment which matches the high standards of care which our patients receive.
"We’d encourage anyone who is thinking about holding a cake sale, arranging a sponsored walk or challenging themselves by running a marathon to consider supporting our children’s appeal and helping our dream become a reality.”
East Anglian derby: Programme seller shows off collection
A football programme seller with thousands of Norwich City and Ipswich Town match day magazines says he enjoys the "banter" of fans at the East Anglian derby.
David Woolston buys and sells the programmes at both Carrow Road and Portman Road throughout the season, despite supporting neither club.
"It's just a hobby that I turned into a business," he told BBC Look East. "The oldest programme I have from a match between Norwich and Ipswich is a Division Three South game in the 1955-56 season.
"Collectors [like me] are thin on the ground, but people who are committed will collect anything. Whether it's cigarette cards or, in more recent times, Panini sticker albums."
The latest edition of the East Anglian derby takes place on Sunday, with Norwich hosting Ipswich in the Championship at 12:00; commentary will be available via BBC Radio Norfolk and BBC Radio Suffolk, but only on FM radio. There will be live text commentary which you can access on the BBC Sport's match preview.
Suffolk Coastal bin collections reviewed for safety
Waste collections are being reviewed in the Suffolk Coastal district because of concerns over the safety of crews operating bin lorries.
People in five properties in Woodbridge have been told their street is too narrow for lorries to safely reverse down, so they'll now have to take bins to a "communal collection point".
Suffolk Coastal Norse, which empties the bins, said changes are unavoidable where roads have become overgrown, narrower or more potholed.
About 40 properties in 19 areas are currently being assessed to check they're safe for bin lorries to access.
A spokesman added it has nothing to do with the death of a binman after a collision with a bin lorry in Chelmsford in December, but that the incident highlights "the real dangers" of the work.
Samauri swords handed into Beds police
Three Samauri swords have been handed into Bedfordshire Police.
They were discovered when a weapons amnesty bin was emptied.
The bins have been set up across the county, as part of Operation Sceptre, a week-long operation dedicated to a clampdown on knife crime.
A gun was also recovered.
Paula Radcliffe: The damage to my body
Colin Murray
BBC Radio 5 live
I've travelled to the south of France to visit the home of the three-time winner of the women's London Marathon, women’s marathon world record holder and former BBC Sports Personality of the Year - Bedford's very own Paula Radcliffe.
She revealed to me she tore her colon during her world-record breaking marathon run in 2002.
She also discusses the long term damage that running has caused to her body, and her very high pain threshold.
You can listen to At Home With Colin Murray by clicking on the following link.
Man charged with Bedford rape
A man has been charged with rape after a woman was attacked on Bedford's Embankment on 2 February.
He was arrested earlier in the week.
Wheelie bins being considered for homes in Tendring
Homes in the Tendring district could be given free wheelie bins to replace the black sacks currently used for rubbish collection.
The change is being considered as part of a new waste contract and could be introduced from summer 2019.
Tendring District Council said the current bags are prone to splitting and can be ripped apart by animals, causing litter and the need for extra street cleaning.
Recycling arrangements, assisted collections and the weekly food waste collection would remain unchanged and a four-week public consultation has begun to garner people's views.
Government funding to 'unlock land' for housing
Andy Holmes
BBC Three Counties Radio political reporter
Three local councils are due to benefit from government funding to help them build homes on land that's previously been unusable.
The Housing Minister has put aside £45m for 79 schemes across Britain including Wycombe, Luton and Stevenage.
Wycombe District Council has been allocated £500,000 to turn contaminated land at Bassetsbury allotments into housing. Campaigners near the site have previously had pleas to turn it into a visitors centre and heritage site rejected.
Elsewhere, Luton's Taylor Street will receive £855,000 and land in Stevenage around Kenilworth Close, Burwell Road and Gresley Way will get £900,000.
Shefford Town & Campton FC 'devastated' by vandalism
Alex Pope
BBC Local Live
A football clubhouse, which was renovated and refurbished by volunteers three years ago, has been vandalised.
The damage was caused to Shefford Town & Campton FC this week.
Sean Moore from the club said: "All the light fittings are broken, graffiti drawn on the walls and the showers pulled off the walls.
"For someone to go in and vandalise it as they have is shocking.
"Everyone is devastated. It's going to cost a lot of time, effort and money to put right."
He says they have volunteers going to the clubhouse tomorrow to assess the damage, but if it can't be fixed quickly they might have to postpone future games.
Police have been informed, he says.
Conservative councillor wins Clacton St Paul's by-election
Susan Honeywood (Conservative) has been elected to represent the Tendring District Council ward of St Paul's in Clacton, following yesterday's by-election.
The turnout for the vote was 25.5%, with Mrs Honeywood polling 378 votes to succeed Jack Parsons (independent), who resigned from the Conservative-run authority in December.
Prior to his resignation, Parsons was fined and given a 12 month community order after he was convicted of carrying a knife in a public place last year.
Second and third places in the election were taken by independent candidates, while Labour was fourth.
Full results of the by-election for St Paul's ward.
Tory Jason Smithers wins Higham Ferrers by-election
Craig Lewis
BBC Online East
Conservative Jason Smithers won yesterday's Higham Ferrers by-election to became part of the "worst run" council in the country.
Kettering MP Philip Hollobone gave that description to Northamptonshire County Council after the authority was hit with a notice banning all new expenditure.
One of Mr Smithers' first decisions will be whether to back his under fire leader Heather Smith - a statement signed by 21 of his new backbench colleagues recently called for the council to be run by government commissioners.
Mr Smithers polled 1,414 of the 2,503 votes cast, with Labour's Gary Day finishing second with 557 votes. The turnout was 26.04%.
The seat was left vacant following the death of Glenn Harwood in November.
'Neigh-bourhood' cops round up stray horses
Police officers had to use their cars to create a road block to protect other motorists after four horses were spotted running loose.
"Neigh-bourhood" officers from Essex Police's community team put their horse-herding skills to the test on Lower Road in Hullbridge, near Rayleigh, on Sunday night.
Concerned for both the safety of the animals and motorists, they blocked off the road for about an hour, and secured the animals with help from members of the public
"Not every incident we attend is a crime but an incident like this can potentially cause serious harm to the public," PC Steve Joynes said.
"We’re glad we resolved it without any injury and the horses were put back in their field safely."
Family land included in Central Beds 'call for sites'
Dunstable Gazette
A farmer was shocked to find his fields have been included as possible development land in Central Bedfordshire Council’s Local Plan.
Britain's bus coverage hits 28-year low
Britain's bus network has shrunk to levels last seen in the late 1980s, BBC analysis has revealed.
Rising car use and cuts to public funding are being blamed for a loss of 134 million journey miles over the past decade alone.
In England, the scale of the bus network has fallen to levels last seen in 1991, even though passenger numbers are now 8% higher than they were then.
The figures show big regional variations, with Central Bedfordshire the second worst area for the number of bus journey miles lost over four years, although neighbouring Bedford, Luton, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire have gained miles.
The government has encouraged councils and bus companies to work together to halt the decline.
Friday fluff: Cop dogs salute their Chinese year
To celebrate the Chinese New Year, police have put together a parade of pooches.
Friday marks the start of the Year of the Dog, so what better excuse to look at pictures of "man's best friend"?
There are more than 40 dogs in the joint police unit covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
They're a skilled lot, doing everything from tracking suspects to sniffing out drugs and cash.
Happy pooch year to you all.
Baby hippo: New pics from Colchester
A year after its baby pygmy hippo Yeni died, Colchester Zoo has posted some new mother and baby photos:
Luton Borough Council’s budget blown by over £8m
Luton News
Luton Borough Council has projected it will have overspent £8.23m on its budget by the end of this financial year.
Norfolk health services set for change
The way people in Norfolk are looked after by the NHS is due to change under a new care plan.
Health trusts, hospitals and councils have created the Norfolk & Waveney Sustainability & Transformation Plan in response to an aging population and smaller budgets.
Some of the changes recommended include treating people in their own homes and using digital technlogy to manage health conditions remotely.
Health chiefs now want residents to give their views on the proposals.